What Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said after Pittsburgh

Following No. 9 Notre Dame football’s 37-9 win over No. 22 Pittsburgh on Saturday, Irish coach Marcus Freeman addressed the media for about 10 minutes, answering 12 questions. Here is everything he said.

Opening statement

“Yeah, man, obviously a satisfying win over a really good opponent. I was proud of the way our guys prepared, handled the excitement around this game and the hype and College GameDay being here. They handled it the right way by using their energy to work, and they prepared the right way and went out and started from the beginning. Started fast.

“It wasn’t perfect, but it’s never perfect against a good opponent. And so we’re going to celebrate it tonight, enjoy this, and then we’ll get ready for this next opportunity tomorrow for senior day back at home.”

Q. Coach, Adon Shuler’s two-point return is going to be the highlight, but his first third-down breakup, kind of a tone-setting hit by Adon Shuler…was that something you guys felt…there was a couple of drop passes thereafter as well, that’s the tone for your defense?

FREEMAN: “Yeah, there’s a standard the way we play. You have to play with the physicality that we demand. And so it’s not for a certain game, that’s the standard you have to play with. And I’m not saying we always do it, but you’re not OK if you don’t play with that type of physicality. So it was a physical battle, and our guys chose to play the game that way.”

Q. Coach, when it came to the defense as a whole, just what did you see in terms of the clarity and velocity of your team today?

FREEMAN: “Yeah, they played fast, they played hard. We had to make some adjustments for our third-down package based on what they were doing. Their quarterback’s a good player now, right? He was hard to bring down, and he made some really good football players miss.

“And credit to him for the ability to escape, but our guys kept getting pressure. We continued to change up the coverage and the looks, and they played fast. Coach [Chris] Ash and the defensive staff did a really good job making sure our guys were prepared.”

Q. You mentioned College GameDay, you talked a lot all week about some personal noise. There’s a lot of noise attached to this game, maybe coming from the other coach.

I’m curious how you galvanized the group, and maybe there was nothing said about that noise. But how do you approach a game like this when there is a lot of that on the outside?

FREEMAN: “Yeah, I think any leader will find ways to motivate his group. But they know the opportunity at hand, right? And they know that, man, all we can focus on is this opportunity we have in front of us.

“I don’t have time to focus on anything else but this football program and what we have to do. And if I’m focusing on something other than that, then I’m wasting time. And so that’s our focus, and that’s got to be our players’ focus is What do we have to do to be ready for each opportunity?”

Q. Malachi Fields, probably the best game that he’s had. He’s had a lot of them, but just how big was he? It was tough for both offenses today, but he was constant.

FREEMAN: “Yeah, I mean, he made some huge contested catches. We got ’em to jump off sides a couple times. We were able to throw it up, and that 50-50 ball was a 100-0 ball, right? He was able to make those plays when he did. And that’s what we expect out of him. He’s a big-time receiver that usually makes those plays, and it was good to see him make them today.”

Q. Another game where the pass rush set a tone early. The first three series, there was at least one sack. Over this run, it seems like at least multiple sacks have been. How pleased are you? What’s been the difference in the ability to get pressure?

FREEMAN: “I think one is the concept of what you’re trying to do in your pass rush, the pass rush game. But two, it’s the players executing and understanding them, and understanding aiming points on a quarterback and rush lanes.

“And so it’s a great job scheming, trying to get some one-on-ones. That’s sometimes the best you can do, is try to get some one-on-ones. And it’s a really good job by our guys executing what they’re being asked to do.”

Q. Obviously, Tae [Johnson] shows that playmaking ability again. What’s just the continued growth as he gets into his first November now? What do you see in terms of the confidence he brings out there?

FREEMAN: “He’s as confident as anyone, but it’s because of the work, because he knows he’s gifted, but he’s put in a lot of work. And he’s making plays for us, man. He’s an extremely talented football player that is just getting better, right? The talent is one thing, but the work he’s putting in and the improvements that he makes is very pleasing.”

Q. You said it wasn’t perfect, but in what ways do you think the team is getting better consistently over weeks, over weeks, over weeks?

FREEMAN: “I mean, you look at a, I think sometimes you got to pull back and look at a quality win over a good opponent, right? Like today was. It’s hard because you evaluate every single play, right? And so that’s why you say, ‘We’re getting better, but we’re not perfect.’

“There’s some things that you evaluate every single play, and you want plays that you don’t win. Like, why didn’t we win, and what do we got to do to make sure that happens? And then I think over time, you look and say, ‘OK, this team’s getting better, right?’ You’re getting better at executing at a higher level.

“And so there’s a lot of good from today. There’s some bad from today that we know we have to get corrected. But right now, I said, ‘Just enjoy this thing, man.’ Enjoy it tonight, and then us as a coaching staff got to get back to evaluating where we can get better and more consistent tomorrow.”

Q. Maybe it’s the noise of the game, but what do you think of Pitt calling a timeout there at the end? I don’t know if [Pat] Narduzzi said anything to you in your very brief handshake afterwards.

FREEMAN: “No, I wanted to go celebrate, but here’s what I’ll say. I’ll answer it this way. I, to each their own, you know what I mean? I don’t ever comment on another program, but also I don’t have time to think about that.

“Like, they called a timeout? All right, guys, let’s get them stopped, right? And that’s my challenge with our guys. I don’t know what exactly happened and how they scored that last play. We got to evaluate it, but they called a timeout, let’s go. We got to win. We got to win this play.

“I mean, as you feel really good about how the defense played the whole, I don’t care who’s in the game, you don’t give up that touchdown at the very end. And so that’s how I look at it.”

Q. Marcus, you should talk about complementary football. How important or gratifying is it this late in the season to see you guys stacking explosive plays on top of each other in different phases?

FREEMAN: “Yeah, defense did a real good job. Tae-Tae’s interception for a touchdown. Adon’s two-point conversion — converted for two points, and then followed up by big plays by your offense.

“And you look at that pick-6 that CJ [Carr] threw, and then it’s followed up by a two-point conversion that’s returned for two points. And sometimes, as you look at last week, it was good, good. We had a great series on offense, a great series on defense, great series on offense, great series on defense. And I can’t remember what the final score was, but you see the margin of victory.

“Today, what you saw was if the offense struggled, it was the defense that stepped up and really did some good things. And that’s complementary football team, too. When one group’s down, you got make sure — you can’t go bad, bad. Bad, bad equals points. And that’s what we can’t have.

“And so, again, I was pleased, man. That’s a good defense that they have. They got a good team, not just good defense. But I’m just proud of the way their guys kept at it.”

Q. Obviously, you talk about Team Glory a lot is the theme, and everybody made an impact, whether it was CJ, Jeremiyah [Love], the defense. As a coaching perspective, what’s your favorite thing seeing, no matter who it is, making a big play and stepping up for a victory?

FREEMAN: “What’s my favorite thing to see?”

Q. Like the outcome, seeing everybody making an impact, just not just one guy, in today’s victory.

FREEMAN: “What’s my favorite thing about that?”

Q. Yes.

FREEMAN: “That you’re not depending on one guy. It’s great. Here’s what Team Glory means: You put the team in front of yourself. And certain guys, if you do that and you continue to do your job, you’ll get rewarded with tackles or interceptions or touchdowns.

“But at the end of the day, we are less concerned with who made that big play and more concerned with, ‘Hey, did you get your job done for the team?’ And that’s the most satisfying thing. We did that enough today, right? Enough guys got their job done to win this game.”

Q. Coach, when it came to the rush offense, Pitt was top three in the country in rush defense, what did you see from the offensive line and Jeremyiah, just constantly start turning out plays.

FREEMAN: “Man, it was like you had to fight and grit for every yard. And then all of a sudden, Jeremiyah’s going to break one. That’s what he does.

I mean, he’s going to break a tackle. He’s going to make a play. That fourth down play, there’s no defensive call that can stop what happened there. He got outside of the defender that was supposed to be outside, and he gets ’em a first down.

“And so there’s going to be times he does that, but they make you earn everything running the ball, right? They make you earn it all, and our offensive line and our running backs were gritty and tough, and they overcame a major challenge to be able to successfully run the ball for enough to win.”

Q. Just kind of building on that theme we talked about earlier…How much attention do you and your coaching staff put toward the defense controlling the momentum of the game?

FREEMAN: “We honestly don’t put a whole bunch of attention into that. We put attention into doing your job.

“And I know that’s not probably the answer you want. But what will get you to control the momentum of the game is doing your job. That’s how you get off the field. That’s how you get a pick. Tae-Tae was right where he was supposed to be on that play. He didn’t know the quarterback was going to throw it there, but he was in a position to get his job done.

“And so that’s more important, and that’s what we’re going to focus on is, ‘How do I make sure I consistently do my job on this play?’ But the result of that is you’re probably going to be able to control a lot of the momentum of the game if you do that or not.”

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